There was no Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button or Michael Schumacher. The cars were decorated with scrap paper, rather than lucrative sponsorship deal. And there wasn't a single adult amongst the entire teams' pit crews.

Welcome to the world of Formula 24 – where Westcountry school children paired their passion for reducing carbon emissions with ingenuity.

Thousands of youngsters took to an empty runway in Newquay after weeks of hard work, ready to test drive their feats of engineering.

The annual Cornwall College Greenpower event saw environmentally-friendly cars do battle with each other in the Cornish heat of races, desperate to make it through to the nationwide finals.

For the winners, Richard Lander School of Truro, there was no champagne, weekend on a luxury yacht in Monaco, or free entry to the world's most exclusive nightclubs.

Instead, an acre of rainforest was awarded to those judged to have produced the best environmentally-friendly car, built completely from scratch. It was the greenest car, not the fastest, which got the prize of an acre of Amazon rainforest.

Cornish-based rainforest charity, Cool Earth, helped organise the event and agreed to protect an area of endangered tropical forest, in the winning school's name, rewarding them for their sustainable approach to design and technology.

Cool Earth spokesman Matthew Owen said: "All the cars got off to a flying start because they're electric and not gas guzzlers.

"But to get the Cool Earth seal of approval we had to be run a few green checks in the pit stops, such as which cars are made from the most sustainable materials and are they made to last.

"This event was a great way of getting pupils to think about how modern technology impacts on our environment and how they can help shape a more sustainable future."

Despite sharing the same ethos, the vehicles came in wide-ranging shapes and sizes. Some were covered in pieces of scrap paper, another was decorated to look like a Devon and Cornwall Police car. All were powered by a 12 volt battery and made from recycled materials.

Richard Lander School took the top prize with a car built using about 97 per cent biodegradable materials. The car was made from wood, stuck together with traditional glue made from animal hide and bones.

Silk was also used to cover the wood on the outside of the car for extra strength.

Matthew Owen from Cool Earth said: "The car made by Richard Lander School showed a really imaginative use of biodegradable materials with sustainable thinking right at the heart of the design.

"They're now sponsoring an acre of Amazon rainforest stopping it from being destroyed. Not only has this event enthused children about engineering and technology, it's also raised awareness about how new design can have a positive impact on our planet."

The Cool Earth sustainability prize in the Goblin, primary school category went to Gorran School.

Padstow Primary school were awarded second prize as they used 123 recycled plastic bags in their design and St Mewan Community Primary school won third place for sustainability as they charged the battery in their electric car from their own solar panels.